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What is the change? The Finnish Embassy in the U.K. is changing its Schengen Visa application process.

What does the change mean? Three visa application centers (administered by VFS Global) will open in London, Manchester and Edinburgh to handle applications for Schengen Visas. Appointments must be made online. The Finnish Embassy will continue to process residence permits, but all customer service requests, including residence permits, will be by appointment only.

Implementation time frame: Nov. 4.

Visas/permits affected: Schengen (C Type) Visas.

Who is affected: Individuals applying for Finnish Schengen Visas in the U.K. and individuals seeking customer service, such as passport and notary services, at the Finnish Embassy in London.

Business impact: The three new visa application centers should help reduce the workload at the embassy, which processed more than 2,000 visa applications in 2015.

Next steps: The embassy will accept Schengen visa applications by appointment until Nov. 3. After that date, applicants must apply through one of the visa application centers via thenew website, which launches Oct. 31.

BAL Analysis: The new visa application centers will only process applications for Schengen Visas. There is no change to work visas and residence permits, which must continue to be submitted to the embassy.

This alert has been provided by the BAL Global Practice group in the United Kingdom. For additional information, please contact uk@balglobal.com.